"“On the line! On the line! Clock! Clock! Clock!”
Aaron Rodgers throttled his hand in a pass-spiking motion one, two, three times, looking over the Miami defense as the seconds ticked away in the final minute in Miami.
:18 …
:17 …
:16 …
“I was looking at Davante Adams,’’ he said from the Packers’ bus, on the way to the Fort Lauderdale airport late Sunday afternoon, “but he wasn’t looking at me. In a situation like that, you want to make eye-contact so he knows something might be coming. But not this time. He didn’t know what I was going to do.”
Ball at the Dolphins’ 16. Second-and-six. Miami up 24-20. No timeouts left for Green Bay. Randall Cobb split left. Jordy Nelson in the right slot. Adams wide right, just outside the numbers.
Adams, the rookie from Fresno State, had never been on the field with Rodgers in this situation. “But I’ve been trying to get him more involved in the offense,’’ Rodgers said. “He’s good—going to be good. I told him before the game I was going to get it to him on the first play of the game today. ‘If I see you open, it’s coming.’ I got it to him [for a five-yard gain on the first play of the day].’’
:15 …
“I saw the corner on that side [Cortland Finnegan], at the last second, back off to about 12 yards off Davante. And I’m thinking there, ‘They’re giving us free yards.’ ” Actually, Finnegan was about eight yards off to start, then walked back to make it about 11. The cushion was just too tempting. But Rodgers knew if he threw to Adams, and Adams didn’t get out of bounds, the game’s over. Did Adams know? You’d think he would, but a rookie?
:14 …
:13 …
The snap. Nelson was locked in place, thinking spike. The Dolphins played dead too. Rodgers got small, like he was throwing the ball into the ground.
:12 …
:11 …
While moving back and to his right, Rodgers looked at Adams, who, a bit startled, saw Rodgers looking at him and ran two steps off the line. The ball was on him immediately at the Miami 14. Finnegan, also stunned, ran ahead to stop Adams.
“How about that!’’ John Lynch, the FOX announcer, says on TV. “In the home of Dan Marino, he pulls the Marino!” Dan Marino once fake-spiked and threw a touchdown pass to Mark Ingram (the dad, not the son) to beat the New York Jets.
:10 …
Adams and Finnegan met at about the 11, and Adams, smartly, was already making tracks for the sideline. But all Finnegan had to do was tackle Adams in-bounds. He could have walled him from the sideline and forced him to stay in. But no. The veteran failed to make a veteran move.
:09 …
:08 …
:07 …
Adams was in Finnegan’s grasp as they wrestled near the sideline. He got to the four-yard line before being shoved out.
:06.
The play started with Rodgers wanting to get a few free yards. He got 12. And a chance for potentially two throws into the end zone to try to win the game. “Andrew Quarless was telling me during the game that when he was matched up with 53, Jelani Jenkins, he thought he could win. He said, ‘I don’t think that guy can cover me outside,’ ” Rodgers said. Thing was, now it was a different linebacker, Philip Wheeler, on Quarless. Rodgers went there anyway. With Quarless split wide right and running a quick out just past the goal line, Wheeler slipped and Quarless didn’t. The ball was right in his hands. Perfect. Touchdown. Packers win.
“The only way to build trust with your receivers,’’ Rodgers said, “is to trust them to make plays. Work with them, practice with them, show them if they work hard you’re going to them. I told Davante, ‘I’m really proud of you.’ ‘’
What receiver wouldn’t want to play with Aaron Rodgers?"
| Click to see full-size image. |
http://mmqb.si.com/2014/10/13/week-6-nfl-peter-king-monday-morning-quarterback/3/
Author